May 08, 2012

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LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell University students and the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority (LARA) collaborated on their third annual fund-raising project in memory of two local children who drowned in the Susquehanna River in August 2009.

There were 150 participants that raised $2,500 for the LARA Pool Pass Fund during the 5K fun run/walk and Zumbathon on April 22.

Assunda Rotolo, 11, of Lewisburg, and her cousin, Les Davis Jr., 8, of Mifflinburg, were playing in the river near the Lewisburg Bridge when the accident occurred.

Donations also are being accepted for the Pool Pass Project. Checks can be made out to LARA Pool Pass Fund and mailed directly to LARA at 629 Fairground Road, Lewisburg, PA 17837.

Families interested in applying for a pass may contact Katie Davis, LARA executive director, at 524-4774 or e-mail her at director@golara.org.

In 2010, five families received passes and swim lessons; last year, 16 local families were supported. This year the goal is to support 25 families, and offer swim lessons through LARA. All families make a financial contribution toward the cost of their pass.

"We have been in contact with both Assunda and Les' parents and grandparents, and they are all very pleased that there is an opportunity to honor these children and their memory with a program that they both would have enjoyed so much," said Sue Ellen Henry, associate professor of education at Bucknell. "It's another example of some of the wonderful projects Bucknell students are coordinating to make Lewisburg a kinder and more compassionate community."

Students in Henry's multiculturalism and education class study the inequalities that exist around the world and within the local community, and began the Pool Pass project to address some of those inequalities.

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